U.S. captain Jim Furyk is drawing attention to himself with a chalk creation ahead of this month’s Presidents Cup.
Furyk selected spots 7-12 in the team standings among his six captain selections, announced Tuesday. The move means Ryder Cup captain Keegan Bradley will play for Team USA for the first time in a decade, but long-time Team USA stalwart Justin Thomas will stay at home.
Other American draft picks include Sam Burns, Russell Henry, Max Homa, Brian Harman and Tony Finau. Scotty Scheffler, Xander Schauffele, Collin Morikawa, Wyndham Clark, Patrick Cantlay and Xathis Sigala are the six players who were automatically selected to the team.
The Presidents Cup will be played at the Royal Montreal Golf Club from September 26-29.
“Just trying to put the pieces of the puzzle together,” Furyk said in explaining his selection, calling it a “tough omission” but otherwise gave no explanation to Golf Channel as to why Thomas was left out. The 31-year-old ranks 19th in the standings.
Bradley was initially slated to serve as Furyk’s assistant captain, his only chance to gain team leadership experience ahead of the 2025 Ryder Cup at Bethpage Black in New York. Instead, Furyk said, he will be relieved of those duties and allowed to focus on the game.
International captain Mike Weir selected Christian Bezuidenhout, Corey Connors, Mackenzie Hughes, Si Woo Kim, Min Woo Lee and Tyler Pendris. Connors, Hughes and Pendris are all Canadian, and the team of three players with a Canadian captain brings a true Maple Leaf flavor to the team. They will join Hideki Matsuyama, Sungjae Im, Adam Scott, Tom King, Jason Day and Byung-hun Ahn.
What do you think of Team USA?
This is both surprising and incredibly disappointing. Furyk insulates himself from criticism by chalking up players ranked 7-12 because he can say “it’s fair,” but it means Team USA is failing as it stands right now and Bring in young talent. A chaotic season has seen Max Homa drop to 86th on DataGolf, while Brian Harman has just one top-10 finish since March. Justin Thomas, meanwhile, is an America’s Cup legend and is having a much better season than both of them. Thomas posted a 9-3-2 record at the Presidents Cup and tied for 14th at the Tour Championship, while Akshay Bhatia won this year’s Texas Open . Getting the 22-year-old rising star into space will be invaluable going forward. It all feels like a missed opportunity that neither brings out the best in the team nor helps the team move forward. — Brody Miller
Furyk will likely go straight to the next six players in the Presidents Cup standings, but some of the choices are still confusing. Harman and Homa were outplayed by several players who would be a perfect fit for the team, including Thomas, who is widely regarded as one of the best American match play players of this generation. Harman was likely drafted for his driving accuracy to prepare for a tight and cramped Real Montreal, and Homa will provide the enthusiasm and spirit that comes naturally to him in a team environment. But think about Bhatia, or even someone like 20-year-old Nick Dunlap. This year’s Cup would have been a great opportunity to prepare young blood for future team events, but Furyk went with an older group of players who aren’t necessarily even playing that well right now. In addition to partner fit, statistics likely played a huge role in these decisions. But you can’t ignore recent performances, and Furyk seems to be doing just that. — Gaby Herzig
What do you think about international teams?
Will gave his native Canadians love, but maybe not in the way we thought. There’s no way Weir could overlook Lee or King — two of his top talents — or Beziidenhout, who has been outstanding this year, so that essentially leaves him with three decisions to make. You could argue Connors is one of the five best international players around, so that’s a given. The same goes for Pendrith, who has risen to No. 25 in the world during his DataGolf career. Choosing Hughes over potentially superior talents like Adam Hadwin and Nick Taylor would be very difficult. Hadwin and Taylor have both struggled the past few months, so I get it, but Taylor is a killer and has won two of the big boy’s at the 2024 WM Phoenix Open and the 2023 Canadian Open. Victory, until the summer of complete chaos. That stings. (Moving on Aussie Cam Davis was the right move. His spectacular win in Detroit was more of an outlier.) – miller
Will considers a variety of factors when selecting captains. Still, the element of Canada’s home game and an emphasis on recent performance seemed to dominate his decision-making process. With Weir’s pick as captain, the three Canadians will enjoy the feeling of playing on familiar turf in front of a supportive crowd. Hughes, who is 15th in the international standings, was notably left out of the squad for the 2022 campaign. Pendrith and Connors gained recognition, seemingly over Hadwin and Taylor, who may be the better-known and more passionate Canadians. This selection shows Will prioritizes consistency and recent game results. And then there’s King: He brings an unforgettable passion to the game in 2022 and is a surefire choice for the energy in the locker room. In addition, Will specifically mentioned King’s putter, which has been inconsistent recently but seems to be improving with the putter switch. Bezuidenhout sneaked into the FedEx top 30 and had an underrated season, Lee has emerged as one of the best drivers on the PGA Tour and solidified himself as a fan favorite. Overall, there aren’t too many surprises here other than Hughes’ curveball and Davis being skipped to eighth. Will’s choices are strong and represent a thoughtful, versatile strategy. — heartfelt
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(Above: Keyur Khamar/PGA Tour via Getty Images)
